This invention relates to shopping carts and computers. More particularly, this invention relates to shopping carts enhanced with computers and other decision mechanisms.
The art of shopping carts is readily discernable at the local supermarket. A prior-art shopping cart is a metal cage supported above a base on wheels. A fold-out section in the cart accommodates small or delicate purchases. In combination with cutouts from the metal cage, the fold-out section can accommodate small and delicate children.
Shopping carts are mechanical, passive devices, assisting the movement of goods from their shelves to the checkout station. Even where a LCD display and supporting video hardware have been added in order to display advertisements to the shopper, a shopping cart is still a passive device. Indeed, the merchant runs the risk of alienating his customers by merely adding display hardware to his shopping carts and bombarding his shoppers without providing any benefit to the shoppers.
Accordingly, it is desirable to make the shopping cart an active device during the shopping experience.
It is also desirable to have a shopping cart that assists the shopper in his shopping experience.
These and other goals of the invention will be readily apparent to one of skill in the art on reading the background above and the description below.